Presoaking with BSS used for thin manually dissected DSEK (TMDSEK): a viable option for thin DSEK

Aim To describe a novel technique for the safe manual dissection of thin donor lenticules in 10 consecutive patients undergoing DSEK surgery. Methods A key element of our new technique was to presoak the donor cornea in balanced salt solution (BSS) for 30 min before manual dissection. The cornea was placed on an artificial anterior chamber and pressure in the chamber was maintained at 80 mm Hg. The limbus of the donor cornea was incised to the same depth as the central corneal thickness. Lamellar dissection was started with the short side of the Morlet dissector (Duckworth & Kent Ltd) and completed using the lamellar (less sharp) end of the Morlet dissector. Outcomes of 10 consecutive cases of thin manually dissected DSEK (TMDSEK) were prospectively analysed for thickness and visual outcome. Results Mean graft thicknesses measured less than 100 mu m at 1 month post surgery (mean thickness 90.7 mu m, range 48-137 mu m, SD 29.96 mu m). Presoaked donor corneal pachymetry was strongly negatively correlated with graft thickness (correlation r = -0.75, P<0.05). Discussion Our dissection technique achieves consistently thin endothelial donor corneal grafts that can be safely produced with minimal financial investment and no limitations on surgical time. This technique is likely to be of significant importance for a large proportion of the eye centres where microkeratomes may not be routinely available.